How do I turn the daytime driving lights off?

- Rob in Collingwood, Ont.

Why would you want to? And it is illegal to do so.

There is considerable data from around the world to prove the effectiveness of DRLs in reducing head-on collisions. This information first surfaced in Sweden, where like Canada, there are significant periods of fog, dawn and dusk, and the added visibility has been a boon in lowering he highway death toll. Subsequent studies in Canada and elsewhere have reinforced the Scandinavian findings. The European Commission has recently enacted legislation that will make DRLs mandatory across that portion of the world as well.

As for disconnecting them, most are hardwired into the vehicle wiring harness to come on when the vehicle is running and placed in gear.

The trouble with some of these is that they are wired so that they also activate the instrument panel lights, making it easy to think your headlights are on, when in fact all you have is half-strength headlights or less. More importantly, driving in this manner at night means you have no taillights.

Do you have car maintenance or repair questions? E-mail us: globedrive@globeandmail.com